The Queers @ Santos Party House, NYC

1…2…3…4! The Queers, Teenage Bottlerocket and Masked Intruder on the same bill? What an awesome punk rock lineup! Once I knew these guys were in town, I knew I wanted to check it out. I’m glad I did because it was a classic punk show with short songs, drinks flying all over the place, and stage diving. I was just glad to be sitting away from all that.

Masked Intruder are Fat Wreck’s newest band on the lineup and I knew they would be fun to see. All the guys in the band wear color ski masks and act like they just broke out of prison. They have a cop/guard on the stage for part of the set as well. They played a lot of stuff from their self titled album including songs like “Stick Em Up,” “25 to Life,” “How Do I Get To You,” and “Wish You Were Mine.” In the middle of the set, they played a good cover of Outfield’s “Your Love.” I quite enjoyed that cover! They are a fun act and if you enjoy pop punk, you’ll like ‘em!

Teenage Bottlerocket and The Queers have been alternating the headline spot for most of the gigs, but Teenage Bottlerocket were second and put on one hell of a show. I only saw them once before, in front of NOFX at Irving Plaza, but last night was just great! Ray was particularly hyper with his headbanging, pretending his guitar was a gun and random jumping. Plus they kept having a guy in a skull mask coming on stage, which I liked considering I was taking pictures.

The band sped through a lot of their songs and played for a decent amount of time. The songs I do remember them playing include “Stupid Games,” “Bloodbath at Burger King,” “In The Basement,” “Freak Out,” “Welcome to the Nuthouse,” “Bottlerocket,” “Necrocomicon” and “Headbanger.” Definitely an awesome set of punk rock songs, and I know I won’t be getting “1..2..3..4” stuck out of my head for awhile haha.

After Teenage Bottlerocket played their set, The Queers were up next and this was my 4th time seeing the band I believe. The last three times have been mostly their older, harder stuff but this wasn’t really the case last night. They played those songs, but they also played their poppier punk stuff as well. They opened with “Tamara is a Punk” and then played songs like “Number One,” “Definitely,” “Born To Do Dishes,” “Don’t Back Down,” “See Ya Later Fuck Face” and of course “Punk Rock Girls.” Hearing “Punk Rock Girls” never gets old for me.

Joe Queer belted out some Screeching Weasel songs as well with “Like a Parasite,” and “Cindy’s on Methadone.” They also covered the Ramones as well with “Sheena’s a Punk Rocker.” They teetered back and forth from their old classics and their pop stuff and I was happy to hear them play some songs I haven’t heard yet. The other bands were more lively on stage but The Queers were never that type of band, at least the times I’ve seen them. They just get up on stage, play the songs, throw up some middle fingers and blast through their set. You’re lucky if you can get to see them play longer than 45 minutes. Last night might have been around 40-45 minutes including the encore. But it was an excellent set and an excellent night of punk rock in general.